Removing 20 year old wall paper - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

dSilanskas · 05-11-2008, 06:30 PM

Does anyone have any good ideas as to how to remove wall paper? a few friends of mine have told me to try soap in a squart bottle mixed with water that didn't work than i tried vinager that still didn't know! Ah I am running out of ideas

please help!!!

**genecarp** · 05-11-2008, 06:51 PM

score with specialty tool, spray with wallpaper remover, let soak, scrape off

Any Season · 05-11-2008, 07:13 PM

scour it with a wallpaper tiger then go to sherwin williams and get some 'piranha' wallpaper remover

dSilanskas · 05-11-2008, 07:47 PM

what is a wallpaper tiger?

**genecarp** · 05-11-2008, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Any Season

scour it with a wallpaper tiger then go to sherwin williams and get some 'piranha' wallpaper remover

yea thats what i meant

Handyman Jim · 05-11-2008, 08:01 PM

Did a painting job on an older house that required removing wallpaper on one of the bedrooms.Went to home depot bought an electric wall paper removal tool, in the paint dept., that works by using steam .Tool was somewhere in $20 to $30 range, if I remember correctly.

Maybe I just got lucky;but, it worked. Took longer than I expected and was tedious with all the scraping.No chemicals though.I still have the tool ready for the next time.Hope it works just as well then.

http://www.handymanjimnoonan.com

Nigel S. Shorts · 05-12-2008, 12:39 AM

Start by wetting a small area of the paper to see if it loosens at all with water. If not, then try peeling the facing off the paper to possibly expose a more porous surface that you can get water to the backing. If that doesn't work, use a scoring tool as a last resort, as there could be a price to pay in the form of digging into the drywall paper.

Get a garden sprayer, the 2 gallon pump variety, and fill it with hot water and the appropriate amount of DIF, or other removal solution. Look at Lowes or HD for that, or any good paint store. Protect the floor from the lake you'll be making, and saturate the walls beyond what you'd imagine is needed. Less is NOT more with removing paper. The adhesive will break down eventually and you'll be able to scrape the paper off. Get all the paste off too, or you'll have the perfect makings of an antique crackle finish when you paint. Good luck.

chris n · 05-12-2008, 05:15 AM

http://www.wallpaperinstaller.com/wa...stripping.html

http://www.safeandsimple.com/

Any Season · 05-12-2008, 07:07 AM

dsilansikas,

It's a red circle shaped tool that fits into the palm of your hand and has serrated wheels on the bottom, I would also agree with whomever mentioned the steamer. If you have access to one or a HD rental center get one of those too. I usually have me guys use a combo of stripper and steamer.

woodchuck2 · 05-12-2008, 08:10 AM

I have never tried this but i know of a drywall fella who removes it by putting on a thin coat of mud to moisten the paper but you have to start pulling the paper before the mud dries. He claims the paper will come right off.

TooledUp · 05-12-2008, 05:04 PM

Some papers are stubborn to remove. If it is, use a couple of the suggestions above - Score the paper with a tool to break the suface then apply wallpaper paste all over the paper (this will stay wet longer and soften/loosen the paper). Leave a wallpaper stripper (steamer) running in the room with windows and doors closed. Go away for half an hour and have a coffee. You can then use the wallpaper stripper on the paper itself to help remove it. Try and keep the doors and windows closed in the room because the steam build up helps keep the paper moist for ease of removal.

Nigel S. Shorts · 05-12-2008, 05:29 PM

All this talk of mudding and rolling paste on the wall is a crap shoot. Both of those will dry long before a water and removal solution will, and if they do you have a new problem on your hands.

Try Soaking the heck out of the walls and then covering them with plastic sheeting. That will create a humidor of sorts, and prolong the time that everything marinates under there. In most cases the paper will pull off in full sheets at that point. Remember, the more moisture the better.

Bleed · 05-14-2008, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel S. Shorts

All this talk of mudding and rolling paste on the wall is a crap shoot. Both of those will dry long before a water and removal solution will, and if they do you have a new problem on your hands.

Try Soaking the heck out of the walls and then covering them with plastic sheeting. That will create a humidor of sorts, and prolong the time that everything marinates under there. In most cases the paper will pull off in full sheets at that point. Remember, the more moisture the better.

Right way to do it.

All you need is a roller, 1-2 gal s of watter, and thinnest plastic sheeting (plastic bag like).

MidasAllen · 05-18-2008, 12:09 AM

If it is true wall "PAPER", you just need to get a stripper solution underneath. This is easily done with a paper tiger. These are about the size of a computer mouse and can be bought at Sherwin-Williams or other wallcovering store. Perhaps $12 at most. BE CARFUL to not push so hard that you penetate the drywall paper, otherwise, you'll intoduce water to the gypsum. It will require thousands of SMALL holes, not dozens of big holes.

I would NOT recommend using soapy water, as this will leave soap on your wall, which can be a problem for future paint or paper. Use a commecially-available wallpaper stripping solution, which you add to warm water.

chris n · 05-18-2008, 05:12 AM

If it is true wall "PAPER", you just need to get a stripper solution underneath.

If it actually was a TRUE paper, there would be no need for a paper tiger, the paper itself acts as a wick to get to the paste.

WarnerConstInc. · 06-05-2008, 06:38 PM

Fabric softener and water mix, always works on the older paper, always. If is something new or newer then you have to getsomething that will go through the shiny surface.